


Nevermore

by SapphireKey



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Halloween, Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-13 22:05:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16480607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphireKey/pseuds/SapphireKey
Summary: Mourning the loss of his friend Terra, Ventus is visited by a raven with strange, almost familiar golden eyes. Why had this raven come to visit him on such a cold, stormy night? And why did it feel like he’d seen it somewhere before...?





	Nevermore

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween! So, this is basically a retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s work “The Raven” using the chararacters Vanitas and Ventus. I just thought it suited them and I also wanted to put up something for Halloween, lol.

A lit fireplace saved Ventus from drowning in darkness, but it did little to help him sleep. The book he held in his hands, as he sat in his bed and listened to the thunderous clouds outside his home, had been his only hope for ever getting any sleep in this lonely old house of his. The cold, midnight air seeped into the cracks of his wooden home, despite the shutters of his windows being closed. Eventually though, he found himself nodding off to the last paragraph of the fifth chapter, and he thought he’d finally be able to rest in peace.

Until he heard tapping at his window. The sound startled him awake, and he looked towards the window that rattled with the sound of someone continuously, but gently, tapping against his wooden shutters. He sighed, unwilling to move from his bed in the slightest due to a thought that passed his mind. What if it was Terra? What if his best friend had come back from the grave to greet him when he needed it most? He laughed lightly to himself. How ridiculous. Surely, it had to be a late night visitor searching for shelter during the cold storm. That’s all.

At the same time, his mind went wild with other possibilities, as his purple curtains flapped wildly in the wind. Within his body, a sick sort of thrill shot through him like a bullet to the heart. He bit his bottom lip, before snapping out of it and shaking his head. No, that’s completely stupid. It’s one thing to think it was his best friend coming back from the dead to see him, but to think it was his best friend’s _ghost?_ Preposterous. Simply preposterous. Still, that single notion caused terror and excitement to pump his heart fast with adrenaline. Because maybe, just maybe he could see his dear friend again. One more time.

With newfound hope, Ventus sighed and got out of bed to walk towards the window after setting his book aside. His heart was still beating a mile a minute, but he sounded a lot more relaxed than he truly felt. He swallowed hard before addressing whoever was out there. “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to ignore you, I was just dozing off. You kind of caught me at a bad time, you see.”

Although he was hopeful it was his friend, he didn’t raise his hopes up too high. Because, as everyone knew, ghosts didn’t exist and it was impossible to bring the dead back to life. So he talked as though it really was a passerby just looking to get out of the storm. When he approached the window and opened its shutters, however, there was no one there to greet him. Nothing but darkness and rustling trees were present. Ventus tilted his head in wonder.

All kinds of emotions poured into Ventus at that moment. Fear. Doubt. Confusion... it all filled him to the very brim. Had it been the wind? It was a pretty bad storm. Or maybe... maybe it really was his best friend’s ghost. Then he thought that the tapping appeared far too human for it to have been either of those things. Poking his head out of his window, he called out to the person who might have been there. Though, in his fight against his sanity, a name slipped past his dry lips; a name he hadn’t even meant to say. “Terra?”

The name merely echoed back to him above the howling wind and rustling trees. Why did he say that name? Terra wasn’t coming back. He never was. He was gone forever, and he knew this. He sighed with burning disappointment, and closed the shutters to his window. With his back turned to it, he heard the tapping again, stopping him in his tracks. Paralyzed with fear and a strange sense of hope, the tapping sounded louder than before. He growled suddenly; anger and frustration in his tone as he turned again to fling his shutters open. “It has to be the wind! It can’t be anything else!”

Not but a second after he opened those shutters, a raven with fierce, golden eyes fluttered its wings and cawed as it perched itself atop the mantel of his fireplace. A gasp left Ventus as he looked back at the raven, who stared right back at him. Ventus stayed where he was, but after a moment he closed the shutters to his window again, and looked back at the raven curiously. Ventus found himself locked in a staring contest with the raven, and it was one he couldn’t break away from easily even if he wanted to. He was mesmerized by those unnatural golden eyes.

Ventus had never, not once in his life met a raven with eyes such as this one. It was like they were peering into his very soul, as the raven’s head twitched ever so slightly. It didn’t make a move to attack, so it must not be a wild animal. For some odd reason though, the raven looked strangely familiar... _Probably someone’s pet,_ Ventus thought as he allowed a small smile to grace his face. “Tell me, lost raven. What is your name?”

What was he going on about? A raven couldn’t talk; let alone comprehend what a human said. He let out a light laugh to himself, and he wondered if he’d truly gone insane after the loss of his dear friend. To his surprise, however, the raven did speak, and for a split second his heart had fallen to the pit of his stomach when it said, “Nevermore.”

Nevermore? Surely, he hadn’t heard that right. Was that really the raven’s name, or did he just make that up? If it really did say that though... then perhaps this raven belonged to a master of melancholy, whose only way of living was in the very depths of darkness. He laughed lightly again, and welcomed the raven into his home, deciding he should chat up a friendly conversation. He started off by asking if it would leave in the morning, just as all of his hopes had done so recently, but the raven simply replied back, “Nevermore.”

Ventus’ smile grew, amusement in his nearly, dull blue eyes, and he pulled up a chair to sit in front of his fireplace, where the raven still settled. He wanted to know what the raven meant when it said ‘Nevermore’, but when he sat in his chair, he realized it didn’t bring him comfort like it usually did. Instead, it only brought bittersweet memories that painted a portrait in his mind. This chair... the one Terra always sat in when he came over. Ventus bit his lip at the times they’ve shared. Where they laughed, argued, and got into mischief all the time with the adults when they were younger.

Ventus knew that the raven would only utter one word, and it wasn’t a pleasant one to hear in the slightest, but he couldn’t help but ask it more questions. He asked if he would ever see Terra again. He asked if Terra would be found in paradise. He asked if Terra was safe and happy... but of course, all the raven said was, “Nevermore.”

To hear that over and over like a broken record, Ventus became angry real fast. He stood from his chair, and tried to shoo the bird off of his mantel and back outside into the storm, not feeling the least bit guilty about it. “Get out of here, then! Stupid bird!”

Despite how much he tried, despite how his hands even managed to hit the raven, the bird remained still, its evil eyes piercing into his heart, like it wanted to stab its beak into it and swallow it whole. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, a low growl of frustration leaving him. “Leave! Leave me alone, being of darkness and evil!”

It was then that the raven finally moved. Its wings flapped as it lifted itself up and off of his mantel, getting closer to him, and making Ventus back up with a gasp leaving his lips. He watched fearfully, interested even, as the raven transformed itself into something that looked human. The moment he and the humanized raven made eye contact, that was when Ventus could feel a strange connection between him and it. Why, though? It didn’t make any sense.

This raven truly was a being of darkness, though. With hair as black as the midnight sky, eyes cold as the harsh winter air, skin paler than the moon... and his clothes... his clothes were made out of, what Ventus could only guess, was darkness itself. The raven stood still in front of him, a sly smirk appearing on its face. Again, that same, dreadful word came out of the raven’s mouth, and if he weren’t paralyzed with fear right now, he would have wiped that smug look on its face. “Nevermore.”

It remained still as a statue like before, and for the third time that awful night, Ventus gasped as the raven chuckled darkly at him. Even though the raven wasn’t moving yet, Ventus stepped back to keep distance between himself and the creature. He kept moving back, inch by inch, until he hit the edge of his queen sized bed, and looked behind him at it. His heart started beating rapidly again, and even faster when he heard footsteps begin to approach him. He looked back at the raven, whose smirk never faltered once when Ventus put his hands up in an attempt to defend himself. “S-stop where you are!”

“Nevermore.” The raven said again, and Ventus was certain that if the raven could smirk any wider, its horrid face would split into two. Slowly, predatorily, it continued its trek towards Ventus, its eyes never leaving Ventus’ own shock filled gaze. He was trembling now, as the raven leaned in on him, pushing his hands down while its face got so close to his own, he could practically feel its breath. Who could say that they’ve ever felt a raven’s breath before? Hell... who could say they’ve seen a raven transform itself into a human? Clearly, he must be insane.

This being of darkness... it was simply his sanity drifting away from him. That’s all. He swallowed hard, and Ventus tried to back away as best he could, but he could still feel the raven’s breath on his skin. He whimpered, and said, “Wh-what do you want from me?”

Again, all the raven said was, “Nevermore.”

It looked like the raven was going to attack him when it leaned back. To prepare for a hit, Ventus closed his eyes tightly shut, waiting for a blow to the face, his stomach, anywhere really... but nothing ever came. Cautiously, and after a few moments of waiting, Ventus opened his eyes to look around the room, only to find that the raven was gone. How, though? He would have heard the raven if it left...

The strangest thing about all of this though, is that with the raven now gone, he felt like he was in more despair than when it was here. Almost like when it left, he somehow absorbed its negative energy into his body. His chest felt tight, his blood was boiling, but more than anything... he just wanted to sleep. He was exhausted; emotionally, and physically. With a sigh, Ventus forced himself to put the fire out in the fireplace, and decided to crawl straight into bed. At that moment, he didn’t care about anything. Only dreams, and what peace they had to offer.

As he listened to the harsh storm outside though, one word left his dry lips in a shaky whisper, and he wasn’t surprised to have heard it at all as he closed his weary eyes. “Nevermore...”


End file.
